Constitution class
The Constitution-class was a type starship in service to Starfleet in the mid to late 23rd century. The design underwent several refits in its many decades of service. The original configuration and refit variants of this class influenced starship design significantly, and accelerated the standardization of the fleet. It is also one of the oldest used class. History Development Development of the Constitution-class began in the 2230s when key Fleet personnel, including Admiral William Jefferies and Captain Robert April, came to see the necessity of an all-purpose vessel that could explore space while protecting Federation interests and expanding its reach. When a design team led by Doctor Lawrence Marvick finished plans late in that decade for just such a ship, a new class was swiftly approved by Starfleet Command. Starfleet authorized its Fleet Yards in San Francisco to build two vessels, with Admiral Jefferies overseeing NX 1700 -- christened Constitution -- and Captain April supervising its sister ship . Later on, 12 were created in all. Refits 2255 When Captain Pike took command of the Constitution class USS Enterprise, it was refitted for the first time since it's commissioning in 2245. This would become a refit for all Constitution class starships. 2271 Beyond minor modifications, the successful design saw no major changes until the 2270s, when a significant refit had been more than earned. Upgrade proposals all shared a more efficient power plant, with some versions streamlining the hull for greater warpfield geometrics, and others emphasizing enhanced weaponry or science capability; the final design merged many of the proposals. 2403 In 2403, the class of starship got it's first refit in 134 years. By the 25th century the Constitution was not literally refit yet again however it was more rebuilt from the ground up. The new Constitution was made centrally due to the reason that while several other legacy ships (primarily the Enterprise) were being built as several classes sharing the same name, and while their technical abilities were greatly improved it had appeared that advancement was being sacrificed for over complexity and complication. So the new Constitution was created as a more simplified and dressed down functionality. Also Starfleet decided to just refit the Constitution class because designing an entirely new starship would take years and the Borg threat was getting worse. This refit was strikingly exactly the same design as in the alternate reality that Ambassador Spock visited 16 years ago. Design layout The largest and most elaborate vessel class Starfleet had yet fielded, with an unprecedented fourteen research labs each, ships of the Constitution class became the most extensive mobile research platforms ever deployed by the Federation, and were responsible for expanding known space by thousands of cubic parsecs. The class utilized a greater level of modularity, which allowed for incremental changes to configuration -- so flexible that it became standard starship design practice. As other classes began to employ such modularity, Fleet design became increasingly more uniform. Alternate timelines The Kelvin timeline The in an alternate timeline created by Nero the Enterprise was more advanced in weaponry and very similar to the prime universe Constitution class refit of 2402. Mirror universe The Terran Empire's was virtually identical to the Constitution-class, having been reverse-engineered from the captured that had been dragged into the mirror universe from the prime universe by the Tholians. Ships commissioned External links Category:Starship classes Category:Federation starship classes